Who were you before the world told you who you should be? It can be challenging to be truly authentic when we become preoccupied with how we see ourselves versus how others see us. And if that’s not enough, we also try to make sense of how our Creator sees us.
Lots of us are simply struggling to survive. Our self-worth is often about our accomplishments, but we also carry the shame of our mistakes. We’re defined by our looks, our talents or our bank balance, and we tend to accept what others say about us as truth.
Overcoming in Jesus
But what does God say? In her new book, Unmask: Stop Hiding and Start Living, Wendy Burns takes us on a transformation journey through trauma and pain, into joy and purpose. Wendy is an internationally certified Maxwell Leadership Coach who speaks on professional topics as well as issues like addiction and violence.
Wendy recently joined us on 20Twenty to share how finding Jesus changed her life and helped her overcome some of the traumatic experiences she endured as a child.
Wendy believes that we are all uniquely created when we’re born. In Ephesians 1:11, the Bible tells us that God gave us a destiny that we would fulfil according to His plan. ‘So before we were born,’ says Wendy, ‘God had already created our destiny. We were born uniquely with our very own set of fingerprints. And I love that description because even in a court of law, our fingerprints stand up.’
Changing our Identity
None of us choose the family we are born into. We absorb the sort of environment we are raised in, and Wendy says that’s when we start to undergo the process of changing our identity. ‘I think that’s so important because, for me, I actually see it in my mind,’ she says. ‘I see the moment when I had that encounter with Jesus. And that was the start of my childhood again.’
Wendy experienced Jesus getting her attention at a young age, but He didn’t get her full heart. She made a commitment to him as a child, and while some children do have that transformational moment with God, for Wendy it was just the beginning.
‘I still had a journey to understand who Jesus was for me, and who I was meant to be in Him.’
Listen to Wendy’s full interview on 20Twenty below:
*This podcast contains descriptions of trauma that may be distressing for some listeners. Viewer discretion is advised*
